I Saw It

2005-10-24 - 9:26 p.m.

you should, too.

I saw "North Country".

Is it heavy-handed? Yes. Is it didactic? Yes.

Is it realistic? Sadly, I think the movie is pretty close to the truth.

I worked in a factory, and it was never that bad. Of course, I was a manager. It was already 2000. And things had changed. Were men still polite to women? Not entirely. And I think that part depresses me more.

I am incredibly thankful and proud of my mother's generation for taking a huge brunt of the anger and indignities that came with the fight for equality. I can be anything I want (I have no interest in professional sports). I may achieve positions that are as high as any man. I will have to work harder. I will have to sacrifice more. But it is now possible.

Go see North Country. Go see it because although Charlize Theron is pretty, they hired non-pretty women to play roles. Go see it because they show life a little more honestly than usual. (Not all the men are bad. Not all are good. Some are even in between! Some of the women, too!) Go see it because you are grateful to the women who stood up for themselves and for us, no matter the cost.

I Hate Virginia

2005-10-23 - 12:33 p.m.

I'm sorry, but it's true. Virginia is a horrible place that should be not allowed for anyone to visit, especially The Boy. Especially when I am in law school. Or any other time, really, except maybe when I'm on interviews or have to be away anyway and then only if I say it's ok.

The Boy has to go down to a lab in Virginia to take his turn at shifts to watch an experiment. HELLO? What are computers FOR? He even says he wouldn't know what to do if something went wrong, anyway. So dumb.

So, since you all wished me well, I got five questions wrong out of all the questions on the midterm! This is good, because I don't know how many questions there were, and there were two pages, double-sided. So I think I got above a 95% Which is great!

Now I have to go to the library to work on my cite and source for the law journal I'm on. I'm waiting until the Steelers game starts to go out, though, because that means the roads will be free and clear of ANYONE. Pittsburgh really is like that, no, I'm not kidding.

I will be in the library for hours on end, checking the cites of some random dude to make sure he actually cited correctly, even though he's a professor, and I'm just a law student who will most likely never be published, and I could care less anyway. But a journal is good for getting jobs, so I'm sucking it up. But grudgingly.

I still hate Virginia. Virginia, you smell and I don't like you and you have smelly elbows, even.

The Time has Come

2005-10-20 - 11:03 a.m.

The time has come
The walrus said
To talk of many things

Like Portigooz, as the Boy calls it. T-minus 2 hours until my midterm and I am FREAKING!

So instead of writing a long entry, I am going to study. But I will let you know how life is going after that! Promise!

Snuggles and kisses,
Auntie Alektra

Midterms and foo

2005-10-18 - 9:43 p.m.

I have not taken a foreign language class in 11 years until this semester. Am I out of my damned mind? This Thursday, I will also be taking my first midterm in six years. What am I thinking? In other news, Donald Duck speaking Portuguese is highly entertaining, and I think everyone should hear it at some point.

House is back, at least for tonight, and that totally makes my day, especially Monster Truck episode.

However, I am having trouble remembering what order to do things. Simple things. Like to put on my pants before putting on my shoes. So basically, I'm stressing out big time.

Other things: my grandmother's birthday went very well, thank you. She turned 80 despite our best efforts to keep her 79. The dinner was typical: way too much and no one really worried but my mother. Oh, well. It was nice to see them.

Next week, the Boy will be out of town for a whole week. A WHOLE WEEK, people. I am SO not cool with this. I can't even get dressed and he's here. What's going to happen next week?

I'm going to bed now before I start to put the pieces together and realize how much I'm going to be in over my head next week.

Religion in Schools

2005-10-14 - 10:31 a.m.

I think religion should be taught in schools. No, really, I do. But not in science class. Science requires proof, theories with proof. Intelligent design, saying that there is order, is a beautiful idea to me, but it requires a faith that many do not have. (My one set of grandparents believe intelligent design was caused by aliens. I always want to ask them where the aliens came from.)

Religion should be taught in history class, in English class. And not just Judeo-Christian ideas. We are in a global economy and in a country of all faiths. We need to understand ourselves and everyone around us, where we come from, where we're going.

Putting religion as the "truth" in a test is not the way. Putting religion as a choice is what I see as breaking down all these barriers. I am saddened that my money went to a commercial that the Catholic Diocese put on the radio to promote Intelligent Design. Hunger still exists in Western Pennsylvania. Abuse still occurs on every level. I don't think we need radio spots to change science class just yet.

Minneapolis Monday - DC Monday - 2007-08-06
Okay - 2007-08-02
The End is Here - 2007-07-26
Two Years - 2007-07-23
Screaming to a Halt - 2007-07-21

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